Happy Birthday to me and only 100 days of pregnancy left!

Yay, (I think) I am the big 28 today and it has been a wonderful day filled with bagels, coffee, cookies, cupcakes (ya I know I should really eat an apple or two now!) cards and smiles.  The men in my life gave me the sweetest card that about brought me to tears at 4:30 this morning and a massage gift card...Hallelujah!  Derrick and I also purchased a Tahoe last night and that has made driving to work a whole lot sweeter and luxurious!  We bought a 2005 Chevy Tahoe that has heated leather seats, a DVD player, 7 passenger seating, automatic everything (D and I even set the foot pedals, seat adjustments and mirrors to our own specifications and just push 1 or 2 when we get in the truck to set them!)  and more.  It is the most comfortable and smooth ride and we are so lucky it's ours!  It was bittersweet to say goodbye to the beast of a truck I have been driving for 5 years and we have owned for 8 but as soon as we slid into our new truck it was all worth it!  What a great b-day present!  ; )  My mom also finished Rileys costume-For about $6 it might be the cutest homemade costume ever!  Thank you Nana!  We are headed to Pep Boys to pimp our ride a little more and then to my parents for appetizers and more!  I love the birthday dinners we get from my Mom-it's about the best food ever and she doesn't skimp so we are all saving our appetites for a night of gluttony!
Thanks for all the cards, FB posts and texts-you all made my day!

Some of my favorite buttons...seat warmers!  

25 Weeks!

PREGNANCY HIGHLIGHTS:

WEEKS: 25 weeks

BABY'S SIZE: 13 inches, 1.5 lbs, the baby is the size of a small bag of sugar!

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN:  12 lbs now... 

SLEEP: Sleeping good and hard with just one visit to the bathroom.  I am working at 5:00 a.m this week and last week so along with earlier bedtimes a one hour nap has been needed before I run to pick up Riley man.  

MOVEMENT: I am feeling kicks all the time and loving it.  She made it very difficult to keep sleeping in on Sunday morning so I finally just got up at 8:00 and of course she calmed down.

SYMPTOMS: TIRED! I am exhausted everyday but am still forcing myself to keep up with the house and such otherwise I feel like such a miserable, no good mommy/wife so I rally through and catch up on sleep when I can thanks to my WONDERFUL husband! 

WHAT I MISS: Nothing.

CRAVINGS: Halloween candy.

MATERNITY CLOTHES: I wore my first pair of maternity jeans on Saturday and am going to start shopping around for some new maternity clothes this weekend.  

WHAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: I would say my B-day on Friday but I will be 28 this year and that makes me feel old so I will go with the all the fun Halloween weekend is going to bring!  

We dropped Riley off with Auntie Katie on Saturday so we could do some vehicle shopping after we finally realized a pick up truck with only 2.5 doors just isn't going to cut it with 2 car seats.  We snuck in a quick lunch at our favorite PF Changs and then headed to Bella Angel Imaging for a 4D ultrasound of our little lady.  It was the most comfortable, relaxing and fun U/S yet!  We have now seen her at 9, 13, 20 and 25 weeks and it still hasn't really dawned on us that we will be bringing home a new babe soon.  She is beautiful and looks just like Riley.

She has perfectly shaped lips and a little button nose.  In most of the pics she gave us the okay sign and the video we have is precious!  It was quite the experience!  We rounded out the day with the 'Light up the Night Parade' in downtown Anoka with Katie and Ben and Riley loved dressing up (he choose the rooster/chicken costume all by himself) and he giggled in the mirror at the sight of himself.  He is really into the costumes this year and had a blast at the parade.  His favorite float was the Doody/Buzz float and the loud police and fire station vehicles.  That costume kept him so cozy and warm that he had sweat marks on his head when we got home!

Sunday was the shower for my cousins Ryan and Molly who are having a little boy the end of January.  She is super cute with her tiny belly and they are so excited about the new addition!  The food was delish and the 2 hour nap afterwards was delightful!  Riley is such a lucky boy to get to see family all the time!  Papa watched him on Friday because Nana was at a conference, Katie and him had a blast on Saturday, and Papa, Great Uncle Gregg and Ryan played ping pong and kept him entertained during the shower on Sunday plus he got to run around with Owen a bit.  

Funny story from Saturday-we brought Riley's potty chair over to Katie's so she could put it on her toilet and keep him falling in but we didn't realize her oblong toilet wouldn't hold the potty seat so after a few minutes the poor little dude was in the toilet anyways.  Katie couldn't stop laughing and as we read the text we couldn't either.  They tried one more bathroom and he nearly fell in again so no potty dances at Katie's house!  Poor kid!  At least they gave it a good try!  

Here we go again with a new week that will undoubtedly fly by!  

24 Weeks!

PREGNANCY HIGHLIGHTS:

WEEKS: 24 weeks

BABY'S SIZE: 12 inches, just over 1 lb, the baby is the size of an ear or corn!

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN: So far 9 lbs but I am back to power walking everyday even in this heat!

SLEEP: Sleeping good and hard with just one visit to the bathroom!

MOVEMENT: I am feeling kicks all the time and loving it.  We can all see her tumbling around like a little acrobat and it still scares Riley.  She also loves to kick when he is on my lap. We sit on the floor and read together and between the constant kicks and my expanding belly it's not very comfortable anymore but I love getting on the floor to play with him so I will take the discomfort! 

SYMPTOMS: TIRED! I am exhausted everyday but am still forcing myself to keep up with the house and such otherwise I feel like such a miserable, no good mommy/wife so I rally through and catch up on sleep when I can thanks to my WONDERFUL husband! 

WHAT I MISS: I miss donating blood while at work.  I loved getting out and donating for an extra hour break every 56 days.  I loved the reading, the chex mix, the cookies and actually donating! They keep calling wondering why I haven't donated since I have AB+ blood (only 3.5%) of Americans have this type and I finally had to call back and tell them that I am pregnant.  I am pretty sure I can stand to give up some blood but rules are rules and I AM a rule follower!  ; )

CRAVINGS: Vanilla white chocolate mochas.
MATERNITY CLOTHES: No maternity clothes yet but I did have to switch from my small scrub pants and top to my mediums and it definetly makes me feel a little more pregnant at work.   

WHAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: Saturday-Daddy and I (maybe even Riley?!) get to take another look at our little girl and then we are going to lunch and maybe a movie.  Sunday-My cousin's shower while they are in town for a quick visit! 



Our weekend started out great.  I had the Hutchie ladies over for Davannis and a movie "Letters to Juliet" (it was great) and we just enjoyed the conversations and each other.  After my Uncles funeral this time last year I vowed to start seeing everyone more often and finally we made it happen and are planning a get together for next month already.  I have great Aunties and they ooohed and ahhhed over the new baby girl clothes I bought.  I love her seeing her sweet clothes in the closet and I could look at them everyday!  Riley man was one sick little dude and he literally kept us up all night on Friday.  Daddy took off around 3:00 a.m. and Riley slept with me, coughing, crying and feverish all night long.  Saturday the little stinker woke up like nothing had happened though and he was feeling great so after some R & R we ventured out to enjoy some harvest fun with Baby Weah (Riley says her name nearly pefectly!) and her mommy.

Rach and I have spent many a hunting weekends together and having kids hasn't changed our habit!
Riley slept so good Saturday and I was a little lonely in bed even after the tumultuous night we spent together Friday.  I would have let him sleep with me in a second!  Derrick has been telling me how in the mornings he hears a little diaper crinkling as Riley walks into our room and I was looking forward to it but finally at 8:00 a.m. I had to walk into his room and I was greeted with "Hi Mommy, Wiley up?"  Of course you could get up little one-Mommy was just waiting for you to come get her silly! Our weekend is fast closing and we are so glad to have Daddy back.  Riley had been asking about DDeuce and Daddy all weekend and he is just like his Daddy.  He literally sat in the window waiting for his Daddy for 20 minutes-It must be nice to be so missed and loved!

Awaiting Daddy

This boy is just like his Daddy!  

kisses for the camera

Muuuuuuu

Ahhhhhh!  

We are getting the most out of this wonderful weather and spent the evening jumping in leaves, coloring with sidewalk chalk and of course a few pictures!  We just can't get enough of outside right now!  

23 weeks

PREGNANCY HIGHLIGHTS:

WEEKS: 23 weeks 

BABY'S SIZE: 12 inches, just over 1 lb, the baby is the size of a bag a coffee!

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN: So far 9 lbs but I am back to power walking everyday even in this heat!  

SLEEP: After the late Twins game on Wednesday I had been dogging it all week...not a great idea to only get 4 hours of sleep but luckily over the weekend I slept like a rock all night long in a twin bed with no problems!

MOVEMENT: I am feeling kicks all the time and loving it, I can even see her tumbling around!    

SYMPTOMS: Hot, hot, hot-not loving this heat we are having the last few days, it's almost been humid out!   

WHAT I MISS: Sucking in and sneaking in to skinny corners and such.  This weekend I realized I cannot suck it in anymore when I tried to squeeze through 2 tables of scrapping!  

CRAVINGS: Vanilla white chocolate mochas.  

MATERNITY CLOTHES:   Still making due with my regular clothes and scrubs but I have ordered some long and short sleeved Park Nicollet shirts to wear so I don't have to invest in tons of bigger scrub tops.  

WHAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: My weekend of fun with my boy.  Daddy got to spend the weekend with him and now it's my turn!

This last weekend was a blast at the Scrappin House in North Branch.  I really missed my boys Friday night and had to just put myself to bed early so that I wasn't tempted to drive home but after nearly 12 hours of sleep I felt refreshed and so much better.  I have never left Riley or D for that matter so this was a learning experience!  I took a break and hit the outlets scoring tons of cute clothes for the little miss! I will take pictures soon of the adorable little outfits I bought! I finished my whole Mexico book (nearly 250 pictures!) and had fun with friends and former co-workers as all 10 of us scrapped our hearts out!  

Riley spend the weekend with Daddy and G'ma T up north.  They went to the fireman's cookout and got to ride in the fire truck with the sirens blaring!  G'ma said he was a perfect little boy and that they had tons of fun together.  

Tonight Riley and I attended his new school's open house.  He showed me the reading area, the crafts and playdough area, the learning center and the BIG ROOM which is the energy releasing area with trampolines, balls and a climbing wall.  We called it the BIG ROOM when I was little too! 

Riley's new words this week are "I wove you" and he counts to 3!  Mon, Dwo, Tree!  

Fall fever

Shooting wide open at near dusk in manual makes the colors delightful all the while the focus is lacking...oh well, there's always next time!  

Fit it in Fall 2010

In my quest to scratch a few more 'to do's' off of the baby bucket list we stayed quite busy this past weekend.  We enjoyed circus fun with G'ma T on Friday night but not before eating at the always delish Olive Garden.  We even stopped in at the Twins Plaza on our walk to the Target Center and took in the sites and smells of the new ballpark.  Riley loved the big golden glove and was willing to sit there all evening but the clowns were calling so we had to move on. 

 The Elephants were amazing and since we had front row seats (yep, that's how we roll) the sheer magnitude of how big they were was not lost on us.  Riley giggled and ooohed.  G'ma T couldn't stop saying OMG, OMG, OMG-until both D and I started giggling. 

Riley even got to ride a pony again!

We had to leave after the intermission because our little man was seriously tired so we missed out on some but the fun was had and the light up sword was purchased so what more did we need?! 

Saturday started off with R & R.  G'ma and D cooked and ate breakfast while I slept and slept and slept until nearly 10:00.  Thank you (G'ma) and you (D) and you (Riley Man) for making that possible.  Derrick and I headed out to the Twins game and we are so lucky we didn't bring Riley!  It was utterly, chillingly, desperately cold out.  We were in the shade and the wind was undeniable.  The couple next to us bought a blanket and I couldn't resist so we are now the proud owners of a $45 Twins blanket that will grace Riley's new bed soon!  We scarfed down food trying to beat the wind and cold before it stole away the hot cheese curds and turned them into hard balls of blah.  It was fun snuggling up and taking in the game but the 'B' team was playing and we left after the bottom of the 7th and ended up missing the fantastic finish.  We rounded out the evening with good friends, pizza and our very own version of puppy bowl a.k.a. Riley running around with a football while 2 perfectly Riley sized dogs chased him down trying to steal the ball.  It was so much fun and absolutely hilarious.  Maybe a small dog is in our future?  Haha-NO MORE DOGS FOR A LONG TIME FOR US!  Baby Mila will be making her appearance no later than Oct 20th and we are excited to meet our daughters BFF!  

Just a typical Sunday morning-Lounging around in pj's, loving on Deuce and eventually getting ready for Sunday School and Church where this week we made a paper bag snake, learned about Adam and Eve and cut lots of paper into scraps with scissors.  Our Riley loves to cut and after him calling the scissors 'owies' for weeks he finally says scissors in the sweetest, cutest and funniest way possible!  He literally says a new word everyday but thi-sors and Riwey are the best and funniest! 

We continued with the 'nesting' and got the crib out of Riley's room and finallly finished his big boy bedroom complete with the PB bedding I wanted.  He loves sleeping in there and has been so good about bedtime and naptime.  He stays in bed and sleeps all night long.  Sunday we heard his diaper as he walked into our room for some snuggle time and it was so cute and so weird that he can get up whenever he wants now. 

It is amazing how much harder change can be on us the parents.  I didn't sleep for the first 2 nights he was in his bed for fear of him falling out of bed (even though we have a railing) or getting scared by just not being in his crib.  So much for my worrying (and yes a few tears) because he is A okay and so proud to be such a big boy!  We are telling him that the crib is now his baby sisters and he is working hard on saying 'sister.'  More pictures to come from his big boy room after we re-arrange a few pictures.  Slowly but surely the nursery is coming along and we plan on getting a paint color picked and sheets ordered soon.  Our house is in total dis-array and we move and find a new spot for just about everything.  Having an extra bedroom has been so nice but change is good and a new baby is even better so wish me luck as I am completely challenged with decorating/arranging furniture! 

On a positive note: my nesting instincts finally cleaned out the junk drawer and now it's much easier to find what we need without having to call it a junk drawer! 

Happy Monday! 

22 weeks

PREGNANCY HIGHLIGHTS:

WEEKS: 22 weeks 

BABY'S SIZE: 12 inches, nearly 1 lb, the baby is the size of a papaya!

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN: So far 9 lbs and sadly I have hurt my foot so I haven't been able to walk or workout for the last week.  By the end of the day I can't hardly walk anymore so I plan on seeing the Dr this week!

SLEEP: This last week I have been sleeping like a rock!  Love this cool sleeping weather we are having!  

MOVEMENT: I am feeling kicks all the time and loving it!    

SYMPTOMS: Round ligament pain, acne and I am starting to sweat all the time.  Thank goodness it has cooled down tremendously!   

WHAT I MISS: Jillian Michaels workouts.  Sick, I know!  

CRAVINGS: Vanilla white chocolate mochas.  

MATERNITY CLOTHES:   Still making due with my regular clothes.  I am being quite creative with what I am wearing and can be found in sweatpants and sports shorts while I am at the house.  

WHAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: My weekend of scrapbooking, friends and food up at the Scrap House in North Branch.  Daddy and Riley are heading up north while I spend the weekend with nothing more than my sweatpants, pictures and pillows!  I am so excited!